As Angus Stone started his European tour, we interviewed him in his Parisian hotel in order to talk about his new album. A bit more intimist, this first solo album also involves a French tour starting from february 2013 (and probably at la Cigale). Interview.

You travelled a lot during the writing of this album. Which was the most inspiring place you went to?

It’s hard to put you a finger on the most beautiful I went to. We played at a festival up in the hills of Switzerland and it was pretty amazing. There was a crown at the top of the mountain and a pine forest leaning over where the stage was. It was quite beautiful to see the whole city below you. For me it was a pretty special moment.

What about the cover of your album. Is it a personal picture?

Every family has a bookshelf full of photo albums from when they were young. And one in particular was dad’s album from when he was a kid. Every time I flip to this page, I would see this picture that he took of this house and it has always resonated with me. When this album was complete it seemed like this photo was fitted to be so I put it on the cover.

You’ve got your own style (strong beard, bohemian clothes), are you a fashion freak or is it a natural behaviour?

I travel a lot and I like shopping in vintage shops. I like to find things with character and I carry them all around the world with me. I like to wear them in my style. I like things a little fucked up. It looks like someone you can feel and see the person who was wearing it before. There’s a story within. I like to romanticize with that idea.

You seem to be a solitary guy. Do you like being on tour?

I think I’m good with own my company. I’m fine with being alone. I like to see a yin and a yang to what I have on the road like meeting a million different amazing people, traveling though so many different towns, cities and countries and then stepping off and being alone again, having space and air to breathe. I think in between these two worlds I exist.

Your songs are quite nostalgic and full of metaphors. Are you a romantic kind of guy?

I like to think that romance is in everything that we do. If you see it coming true, if you’ve that love and passion, it becomes a good enough reason to wake up.

Your songs are also about love, desire and loss. Are you in love?

I wouldn’t say I’m in love. I let go and I think being on the road is the place that you learn that the most. You don’t have a place you come home to after. It’s like an invisible shell you run everywhere you go and teaches you how to just be a bit freer.

So you like traveling, being on tour. How would you feel about staying in a place forever?

I like that idea but I’ll always like to do both. It’s like a balancing trick because once I stop, I’m ready to go again. When I go home, I have a farm and I’d like to stay there forever but I’m definitely born to travel again.

Your sister also flew to India in order to write her album. Did you two met there?

Julia gave me a number for this family she stayed with. I called them, I did some recording but we didn’t met. Julia and I, it’s funny because we just miss each other in the other side of the world but I know we’ll meet each other at a festival in Australia for New Year’s Eve.

We interviewed Julia two weeks ago and she said making music on her own was something that creatively made her alive. Do you feel the same?

She’s lying (he laughs). I feel quite the same. Whether alone or with someone, creating is something that makes my heart beat. It’s a way to discover things inside of you. I think of meditation, inventing, talking about things we don’t usually talk about. It’s cool like that.